Get a Discount and Add Dramatized Bible Stories to Your Day with The Adventum {A Homeschool Review Crew Review and Discount Code}

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

If you and your family enjoy audiodramas and Bible stories then I recommend taking a listen to The Adventum, Volume 1, produced by Wise King Media. I have recently had an opportunity to review this fictional retelling of stories of Bible stories and am impressed with how they imaginatively make the Bible come alive with powerful background music and sound effects and a full cast of voice actors.

What Is The Adventum?

The Adventum, Volume 1 is an imaginative, immersive, and gripping retelling of Bible stories that takes families back to the Creation through Noah's family's experiences and when Abraham's experienced euphoric relief when God provided a ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac to stories of Jacob and Esau.

Available as a 4-CD set, like I received, or a digital download, The Adventum, Volume 1 makes the Bible come to life for families by taking the characters of the Bible, the Words of God, and some imagination to create engaging stories filled with music, sound effects, narration, and dramatic dialogue that immerse you in what it might have been like to live during ancient Biblical times.

The entire Volume 1 set is about four hours long, broken into segments of a few minutes to about 30 minutes, with an average of, I'd say, 20-minute stories.

In the tradition of all great audiodramas, The Adventum, Volume 1 uses high-quality sound effects, music, and dialogue to immerse you in action and adventure, making your listening experience almost like watching a movie in your mind with full audio.

What The Adventum Is Not

The Adventum audiobook series is not an audio Bible recording that only uses the words of Scripture. It does, however stay true to the characters of Scripture and, where the voice of God is used in the audioadrama, it's taken verbatim from the NKJV and NIV translations of Scripture. There is no artistic license taken with His words.

A Discount for You

If you'd like to listen to samples of the audiostories, make sure to go to The Adventum website where you will also see - at the time of this writing - that The Adventum, Volume 1 is 50% off. Better still, The Adventum is offering free shipping for Training Happy Hearts readers! Just use the code advcrew22 at checkout!

Our Experience with The Adventum

The first time I listened to The Adventum, Volume 1 I was on the tail end of a long roadtrip with two of my children. Both children enjoyed the stories with me and thought the imaginative retellings were interesting, but one thought that the sound effects were a bit too overpowering.

After that, because my children were rarely in our minivan at the same time this summer, I listened to the rest of the 4-CD set on my own on my way to and from daily Mass. Interestingly, on a few of the days I listened, the messages from the CD-set and those from the Scripture and homilies I had heard at Mass lined up, allowing God to use a combination of prayer, my time at Mass, and my time with the audiodramas to speak to my heart. (I love it when these things happen!)

Likewise, on a few occasions when my daughter and I were going for what I call walk-n-talks, she brought up things that she had heard or read during her studies and personal spiritual reading time and I found myself relating thoughts I had had after listening to The Adventum on those mornings. 

Thus, I can attest that the creative and immersive retellings of The Adventum impacted my thoughts and family conversations, and I am glad I have had the opportunity to listen to the CD-set.

How You Might Use the Adventum

The beauty of a CD-set like Adventum is the flexibility with which it can be used. It comes in a hard plastic case with sleeves for each CD that - through my experience - stands up to being shuffled about in bags and vehicles. Some ideas for using it are:

1. Enjoy family listening time together by listening at home while you color, do chores, play with blocks, etc.
2. Pair the audiodramas with history studies so that early Biblical history can come alive.
3. Engage in Bible study time by listening to the audiodramas and then reading corollary Scripture.
4. Dive into Lectio Divina with kids by keying into the Scripture passages that each story in the set was created from and then choosing another Scripture passage for children to read, meditate, pray, and contemplate.
5. Prompt Biblically-inspired writing by having your kids pick Words of God from Scripture in other parts of the Bible and then create an imaginative retelling using real Biblical characters and stories much like The Adventum does.
6. Share selections in a co-op or catechism class.
7. Make long car rides seem to go faster by immersing yourself in the stories.

The Adventum, Volume 1 seeks to inspire and captivate you through:

• helping you identity with Bible heroes of the past - as real people with real struggles much like us
• igniting a hunger to read Scripture.
• sparking curiosity, excitement, and a deeper love for God.

Enjoy its immersive experience of the stories of Genesis.

 

Learn More

See how other Homeschool Review Crew families used The Adventum, Volume 1 by clicking through the banner below.

Listen to samples of this engaging Bible stories audioadventure at The Adventum website.

The Adventum has more resources for your homeschool, to include four more volumes in this series and a growing collection of text and audio lessons, which can be found on The Adventum blog, and are directly connected to the the audiodramas

Don't forget that at the time of this writing you can get 50% off  The Adventum, Volume 1.

Training Happy Hearts readers can also get free shipping by using the code advcrew22 at checkout!

You might also enjoy the additional four volumes of this series that are also available on the website, including Volume 5, which is ready for pre-order.

Each Book of the Bible in a Page {A Teach Sunday School / Homeschool Review Crew Review}

   Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew. 

In 2018, I reviewed Bible summary sheets by Teach Sunday School and thought they were well done, so when I was recently offered an opportunity to review their Bible Blueprints, of course, I said yes.

What Are Bible Blueprints?

Bible Blueprints are an easy-to-use, helpful resource that can be used onscreen, printed and bound, or printed off a page at a time to be used as a bookmark in your Bible or history studies.

Ideal for individual, family, or group study, Bible Blueprints include a well-formatted, colorful, single page overview for every book in the New and Old Testaments (except for the Apocrypha of Dueterocanon that Catholics like me have in our Bibles).

Each summary contains at-a-glance:

• if the Bible book is in the Old or New Testament
• the order of the book in the Old or New Testament
• the number of chapters in the book
• the Bible book genre or type, such as History, Pentateuch, Epistle, Prophecy, etc.
• an overview of the book
• when the book was written
• the time period that the book covers
• the author of the book
• a brief overview of the book that includes essential content, background, and perspective

The resource also contains permissions "to print as many times as you would like for personal, family, or single church/school use," which is awesome for homeschoolers with large families and those that teach at co-ops and churches.

 

How Are We Using Them?

When I received a link to download my PDF copies of the Old Testament and New Testament Bible Blueprints, I knew that my children would not be able to use the resource during our review period because they were at an overwhelm point with existing lessons, work, and other commitments. I also knew that I could use it myself and save it for my children's later use. Perfect!

Since I have been wanting to read both Psalms and Proverbs all the way through lately, I turned to the blueprints for those first.

At first, I was surprised that the Psalms blueprint did not have many actual sentences on it, but, quickly, I understood how the overview of the book was made.

Then, I saw the Proverbs one and appreciated the blueprints more.

As life would have it, though, I ended up pausing my rereads of these two books, so did not end up turning to the two first blueprint pages I looked at first as often as I thought I would.

Instead, I began using the blueprints to give myself context for Sunday Mass readings, looking up what books each reading for Mass would be taken from and then quickly reading the blueprint of these books.

As someone who knows some Bible verses, can retell various Bible stories, has read parts of the Bible, has no problem sharing Biblical truths, yet who also is not good at instantly putting together the big picture of who said what when in the Bible and in history, the Bible Blueprints became a handy tool for putting things all together and in context.

I can see myself continuing to refer to it. I can also see my daughter printing out a page of it to use as a bookmark to reference as she reads and studies her Bible in the fall.

Would I Recommend Them?

As long as you don't mind that the Bible Blueprints are short the seven additional books that we Catholics include in the Bible, I would recommend this resource as a well-laid out, easy-to-use tool that can help you, your children, or your students quickly gain a clearer understanding of the sequence and flow of the Bible.

The Blueprints could be used to help you get context and an overview for readings before Mass or can be used for similar purposes before you dig into studying a particular book of the Bible.

The Blueprints would also be handy for using in conjunction with history studies.

Or, if you want to add a bit of fun to your home or classroom, they could act as a resource for Bible trivia or Jeopardy-style games. With the type of book, author of Bible books, time Bible books were written, and overview, it would quick and easy for an MC to make up on the spot questions and prompts.

Bible Blueprints certainly provide well-organized, easy-to-digest, visually-appealing, one-page snapshots of Old and New Testament books in the Bible. 

Learn More

 

Over 30 Homeschool Review Crew families have been using Bible Blueprints in various ways.  Check out the other reviews for more ideas on how to use this wonderfully handy product.

Find Teach Sunday School on social media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SundaySchoolLessons/
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/biblefun/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachsundayschool/

Connect Faith to Algebra 1 {A Homeschool Math Curriculum Review}

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

When you think about Algebra textbooks, words like "faith-based" and "Biblical principles" don't often come to mind. Homeschool mom and math lover Mary Carroll sought to change that with her His Vessel Textbooks – Algebra I - an 11-unit, 64-lesson, hardcover curriculum book that weaves faith into math.

When my family was offered an opportunity to review His Vessel Textbooks – Algebra I, I was curious about how faith would be woven into its lessons, so spoke with my daughter about trying it out. She agreed, and, since we received our review copy, we've been slowly moving through it during portions of our 1:1 time.

In doing so, I have come to appreciate the time, effort, and God-loving thought that Mary Carroll put into creating this math curriculum. His Vessel Algebra 1 is organized logically and contains a number of unique  faith-connected features per unit woven in with more traditional straight-up math ones.

Features include "A God Moment" sections at the start of each lesson. These "moments" have a scripture and short devotional-type paragraph that explains math concepts in connection to Biblical principles.

Next, there are "Objectives for This Lesson", which are written as "I Can..." statements and outline what you will learn in the lesson. 

Then, there are "Vocabulary Terms", which come in handy for looking back at as the lessons progress.

After that come explanations, examples, "You Try" sections, and "Practice Problems". The examples are all worked out so you can follow along with them. The "You Try" problems require you to work them out on your own. Answers (not solutions) to them are given at the end of each unit.

Then, Practice Problems, of course, must be worked out on your own and answers to the odd ones can be found at the back of the book.

Sprinkled throughout the text are  "Helpful Hints" and "Make It Clear" boxes which give you ideas for remembering things and/or clarify concepts.

There are also "Family Activity" sections that suggest fun activities that aim to make math concepts more enjoyable. 

Finally, at the end of each unit, there are optional "Expressions Projects" which offer challenge ideas such as figuring how much Nebuchadnezzar's statue weighed or calculating descendants of a Biblical character.

My Daughters Thoughts about His Vessel Algebra 1

Here is what my daughter had to say about her experience with the textbook so far:

When my mother asked me if I wanted to review His Vessel Algebra 1 I wasn't completely sure, because my math skills are kind of all over the place. However, I decided to review it, thinking that maybe it would help me to improve my math skills. After making this decision, I was very excited about when the text would come in.

His Vessel Algebra 1 is quite thick, however, it is surprisingly light, which I liked. Another thing that I liked about the book is that the pages have plenty of white space; I've never liked books that are crowded on each page.

One of the setbacks I have had with His Vessel Algebra is that I am not able to use the textbook completely by myself. Explanations and examples in it are not written in a way that I can easily follow, so I had to ask my mother for help and ended up using the book with her during 1:1 study time. It has been a slow process.

I don't think His Vessel Algebra 1 is a bad book. In fact, I think that for some people it would be perfectly fine; they would be able to understand it. I just tend to take a bit more explaining to understand things, especially in math, and found that His Vessel was not as good at explaining things as some other programs I've used.

I would recommend His Vessel to someone who is willing to help their child with it. I would also have to say that if a parent wanted to make sure that all a child’s answers are right, the parent would have to go through and do some problems, because the back of the book does not give all the answers.

 

Overall I think His Vessel Algebra 1 has its pros and its cons, but I believe that it could be helpful for certain individuals. 

So, as you can see the curriculum has not been a total success with my daughter, but she can still find good in it, and I can, too.

My Thoughts on His Vessel Algebra 1

For students that head into His Vessel Algebra 1 without prior "holes" in their math, I think the text would easily carry them through Algebra 1 while helping them find connections between math concepts and faith. 

For students like my daughter who struggle with math, some hand-holding might be necessary.

I am not sure if we will continue to use the text with my daughter right now, because it is just going too slowly for her which is discouraging, but I will be saving it to use with her younger brother in years to come.

More Coming!

His Vessel Algebra I is currently the only text available from Mary Carroll, but she is drafting more books using her unique Biblical approach. She has plans to release a Geometry book in the fall of 2022 and Pre-Algebra, Algebra II, and Elementary Math in the future. She is also planning to offer a separate answer key for Algebra I in the summer of 2022.

Some Families Love It!

Some of the Homeschool Review Crew families who tried His Vessel loved it. To read what they appreciated most about it, click over to the Homeschool Review Crew to find links to their blog and Instagram reviews.

You might also want connect with Mary Carroll and His Vessel Textbooks on social media.

Facebook | Youtube

Teach Wisdom through Proverbs to Middle Schoolers on Up {A Positive Action Bible Curriculum Review}

I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

I was given an opportunity to review Positive Action Bible Curriculum's Wise Up for grades 6-8 - a well-laid out curriculum filled with some wonderful thoughts for studying wisdom using Proverbs.

 The curriculum comes as two parts: 

1.   a 200+ page, 7 x 9 inch softcover student book with illustrations...

 

text...

 

and places for students to answer questions which challenge them to explore God's word and places to fill in blank outlines based on teaching.

 

 2. a sturdy, 300+-page, 3-ring binder teacher manual that contains outlines for three- four- and five-day-a-week lessons...

 

 core learning objectives, notes on presenting lessons effectively, optional plans for verse memorization...

 

weekly quizzes, answer keys...

 

and answer keys, and facsimiles of the student book with answers filled in, plus tabs to put testing materials and answer keys under.

 

Together, the student book and teacher manual offer a full 35-week curriculum that aims to edify middle-schoolers (and older students) with the wisdom of God as explored in Proverbs as they navigate the new freedoms, higher expectations, and greater responsibilities that go along with growing up.

Because my oldest child is above the suggested age-range for the curriculum and my next child down was busy studying and memorizing things for her Confirmation when this product came in for us to review, I thought I might try the curriculum with my 10 year old.

However, once I really sat down, looked at the materials, and thought about things, I knew the timing for introducing Wise Up to my son was wrong.

All of my children are in wind-down-to-summer mode and the materials just seemed too "schooly" to draw them in at this time of year. So, I decided to us the materials myself, with an aim for deepening my own understanding of wisdom, peppering conversations with my kids with things I gleaned from Wise Up, and discerning how the curriculum might fit into our fall. 

Here are some of the things I noted in going through the first five lessons and browsing the rest:

1. It is unabashedly a Bible curriculum. 

The materials are written in a direct, logical way to get students to read parts of the Bible, note what these portions teach, and relate concepts to their own lives. For someone who is "all in" with Christ, this is wonderful and helps make connections and recognize applications. Material is presented at a level tweens on up can understand and learn from.

2. The curriculum can be used subtly, too.

For someone who is sadly questioning faith (like one of my children), the curriculum might be too much and be rejected. Thus, for use with children like this, it might be best to do as I am currently doing - go through the curriculum yourself to strengthen your own knowledge, find fresh ways to look at different Bible verses and teaching, then present the material to your child conversationally when different situations arise. Doing so will give you fresh ideas and connections to keep "in your back pocket" and to guide your child with.

3. It is flexible.

The curriculum is written to be used over a full school year and follows a typical curriculum approach - read, discuss, reflect, write, etc. There are suggested outlines for 3-, 4-, and 5-day scheduling, but, honestly, the curriculum can be approached on an open-and-go basis. as long as you have a Bible and a pencil on hand, you can just open it up, start doing the next portion, then stop as you need and start again the next time you have time. 

4. Discussion is good. 

The curriculum is written with the intent of the teacher presenting small lessons to the student at times and with teacher and student discussing things. Thus, it is not one where students can just open the student book, read, think, respond, and complete it. Students will need a parent to present the small lessons orally or give access to the teacher manual so students can read those lessons themselves. Truly, though, discussion is good, so even if doing the latter (which is an approach I have thought about for my independent learner not one suggested in the teacher manual) make time to periodically discuss ideas.

5. If you are Catholic, like us, think about unity, not division.

This curriculum has SO MUCH GOOD in it - so much that helps you to examine Proverbs, unpack Scripture, think about life applications, etc. But, inevitably, because it is a Christian, not Catholic-Christian resource, it also has some parts that I, as a Catholic paused at.

During my pauses I reflected on unity. 

 As with so many Christian, but not Catholic resources I have been blessed to dive into, with this one, I find some rich kernels of thought and truth expressed well.

Wise Up truly does what it sets out to do - provides an understandable study of the wisdom of God through Proverbs.

That said, it also has some portions which do not reflect the fullness of the Catholic faith and its teaching. In turn, that means I sometimes think more deeply about the precepts of my faith and find myself preparing for illuminating discussions in using the curriculum with my children

Such discussion and thought are good things, I believe.

As Christians, we are called to be one with Christ.

Our humanness sometimes focuses us more on division than unity and, when it comes to curriculum choices, this can cause some folks to discard curriculum that might bring to mind a few differences.

I don't think this is necessary. I think, instead, those differences can be discussed, that discussion can be illuminating, and, overall, we Christians can choose to focus more on what brings us together to live as believers who seek to follow Christ.

Look for what makes us the same. Appreciate differences. Live with a heart for Christ. Doing so, I believe, is a wise choice.

Wise Up has some wonderful Scripture study in it and speaks at the level it aims to about things such as discernment. I appreciate that and am glad to have this resource to dive more deeply into proverbs and practical applications of wisdom for tweens on up.

So far, I have appreciated its approach to teaching about wisdom vs. foolishness...

...and applying Bible truths to our home life, a parent's responsibility to children's and a child's responsibility to a parent.

I have also  paged forward to chapters on attitudes, friendship, character, love, integrity, humility, hard-work, self-control, courage, success, and more, seeing some wonderful and clear teaching as I browsed and looking forward to diving into it more deeply. 

I would recommend Wise Up for families or even co-op classes - that have students that would benefit from a Bible-based, straightforward, accessible and flexible curriculum that uses Proverbs to teach about God's wisdom and how to apply the Bible to living. I also am finding it is a good, straightforward study for me - a mom - to make some connections myself and "back pocket" specific Proverbs, Bible stories, etc. to weave into conversations with my children as I continue to try to meet each one where he or she is at.

To see how others have used this curriculum more directly with their children and to see what they thought about another Positive Action for Christ curriculum for 5th graders called Possessing the Land, head on over to the Homeschool Review Crew where you will find links to video and blog reviews.  It is always good to glean ideas from how different real life families use resources!

You can also find Positive Action Bible curriculum on Facebook and Pinterest.

Tomorrow Will Dawn with Hope and Joy

There are days when your heart feels broken.

Not because of a calamity, but because of the quiet sorrows of everyday life. Sorrows that, for one reason or another, cannot be shared with other people and begin to feel so burdensome. 

Sorrows that sit just under the surface of every moment, undercutting the blessing of hope that God offers us.

Sorrows that threaten to steal all your joy.

Luckily, there are also moments when you remember that sorrows can sanctify.

They can be offered up. They can be turned into prayers. They can be shared with God even if not with other people.

And, when we stay rooted in faith, hope always endures. Joy wins.

As Psalms 34:18 says, "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed."

If today you have felt swallowed by sorrow, take heart. The Lord is near.

This day will end and another dawn new.

Trust in the Lord. He is a healer of hearts.

Of Birdfeeders and Bottles

Sometimes, God sends us hope and reminders through little things...

A window feeder with birds that come to feast, reminding me that the "birds in the sky...do not sow or reap... yet (my) heavenly Father feeds them." (Matthew 6:26)

My daughter helping me prep and wintersow 20+ bottles and jugs of what we hope will grow into flowers and edibles brought to mind the verse, "One who pays heed to the wind will never sow, and one who watches the clouds will never reap." (Ecclesiastes 11:4)

And, in the days that followed, as I faced some significant challenges in my call as wife and mother, I was edified by the thought that things may seem hopeless at times, conditions may appear all too imperfect, but if I just trust and do my work, God will do the rest. He provides. He controls the winds and clouds. He is always at work and always has a plan. I must stop worrying and just move forward in trust doing what I can as I can this moment.

If you, too, are facing struggles right now, I pray that everyday noticings and the Word of God can bring you some peace as they have me.